1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator ice supplying apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional refrigerator is designed to store foodstuffs for a long period of time by using a freezing cycle of a refrigerant. The refrigerator includes a refrigerating chamber (not shown) for storing foodstuffs in a non frozen state for a short period of time and a freezing chamber (P) for freezing and storing foodstuffs for a long period of time.
The freezing chamber, as shown in FIG. 1, is provided with a door rotatively installed at its front portion with an ice dispenser (50) made of an insulating material like a styrofoam, a case (52) for forming a structure of the freezing chamber (P), a compressor (55) disposed under the case (52), first and second ice makers (56, 57) mounted at middle and upper portions of the freezing chamber (P), a plurality of shelves (59) supported on a plurality of guide rails (58) formed on the lateral walls and a plurality of storing boxes (60).
The ice dispenser (50) is provided with a receiver (61) formed at an external side of the door (51), a discharge tube (62) vertically installed inside the door (51), a dispenser lever (64) rotatively hinged at a lower end of the discharge tube (62) with a hinge (63) and a switch (65) positioned on the door (51) for being turned on when the dispenser lever (64) is moved.
Particularly, an ice supplying apparatus is installed under a first ice maker (56) for breaking up ice and for supplying a predetermined amount of the ice to the discharge tube (62) of the ice dispenser (50).
The ice supplying apparatus (disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,556) includes a motor (67) supported on a guide rail (58) and on a cover (66), a rotary shaft (68) spirally formed for sending ice in a continuous movement along with the connected motor (67), a group of two cylindrical supply containers (70) installed at an end of the rotary shaft (68) with a plurality of spiral blades (69) for sending a predetermined amount of ice, a crusher (72) having a plurality of cutters which are rotated along with the rotary shaft (68) for breaking up ice sent from the supply containers (70) into smaller pieces and a storing box (73) for covering a few mechanical parts and for storing the ice.
The first and second ice makers (56, 57) are respectively provided with water supply tubes (74) for supplying a predetermined amount of water thereto to be frozen into ice and a cover (75) at a front portion of the storing box (73).
If the freezing chamber (P) is filled with cold air by a compressor (55) and an evaporator (54) of the refrigerator, the water supplied through the water supply tubes (74) into the first and second ice makers (56, 57) is frozen into ice.
Then, the ice formed in the first and second ice makers (56, 57) is dropped out through an upper opening of the storing box (73) when the ice containers of the first and second ice makers (56, 57) are rotated, whereby a predetermined amount of ice is kept stored in the storing box (73).
If the dispenser lever (64) is depressed by a user to get ice, the lever (64) is rotated around the rotary shaft (67) and the switch (65) is simultaneously turned on. If the switch (65) is turned on, the motor (67) rotates to simultaneously drive the rotary shaft (68) to thereby supply ice to the supply container (70).
The ice in the supply container (70) is supplied in a predetermined amount to the crusher (72) by the blades (69). The ice at the crusher (72) is broken up to small pieces by the cutters (71) if the small pieces of ice are needed by the user. Then, the crushed ice pieces are supplied to a discharge tube (62) through the crusher (72) for use by the user.
At this time, two supply containers (70) are used as a group to prevent the ice which has passed through the supply container (70) from being abruptly transported to the crusher (72). In addition, a group of two supply containers (70) as opposed to one supply container is more effective in extending a stroke distance where ice is to be moved by blades (69) of the supply containers (70). Therefore, stability of supplying ice to the crusher (72) is improved because the stroke distance of ice to be moved by the blades (69) at a predetermined speed and at a predetermined amount is increased. The stable supply of ice to the crusher (72) makes it more convenient to control the amount of ice to be discharged through the ice dispenser.
However, there is a problem in the conventional refrigerator ice supplying apparatus in that the provision of two supply containers for transporting ice is bulky, thereby reducing storing capacity in the storing box and increasing manufacturing cost.